September stress Releif

Many have been complaining that the blog is way out of date, so here we go with the update.
Our lot continued to develop at a snails pace. A wall was built at a different angle than the original drawing and that threw EVERYTHING out of whack. Two counters with planters that were supposed to be at right angle to each other and three feet apart suddenly ran into each other so one had to be eliminated. It was a bit of a nightmare and created nightmares for me causing an inability to sleep. We were having to point inconsistencies out on a daily basisAdditionally, our contractor kept thinking we wanted tons of privacy and so he kept closing us in. We wanted everything open.
To make matters worse, we were going on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks so would not be here to supervise. They surrounded our very small deck with 7 pillars? Why??!! Privacy?! No, no, no, take them out.
We finally got to the point where we thought we had made our wishes clear enough for them to understand and felt pretty comfortable about going on vacation.
We left on the 13th and headed to Fresno for a couple days where we visited with my Dad & Stepmother and celebrated my brother's 52nd birthday.
Then we grabbed my Mother and her darling little Yorkie named Charlie and headed to Washington State. The first night we stayed in Redding, CA, the next night in Bend, OR and then arrived at Lake Chelan, Washington on Friday the 17th. It was a pretty easy trip going up.
The purpose of the trip was to spend time with my cousins from Seattle, their kids, and their father who is my Uncle. My uncle Art is my Mother's brother-in-law and she has known him since she was 9 years old. That always amazes me. He is in his 90s.My cousins rented a house on the lake for a month and a half. Unfortunately, they didn't get their reservations in early enough so had to move out for one weekend (the weekend we arrived) and then back in on the following Monday for the duration.
Lake Chelan is beautiful.. Very comparable to Tahoe. It is northwest of Wenachee.
It is only about 90 miles south of the Canadian border.
My cousin Ken and his wife have a boat, their son Ty has a jet ski, they also have a kayak, and of course there is swimming. The only problem was that is was overcast and raining most of the time we were there. We did, however, get a couple days of golf in without getting rained on and about 3 bike rides all of which ended early either due to rain or the threat of rain.
Sooooo, we spent our time playing pinochle, drinking wine, eating delicious food to include picked straight off the trees (or bushes) apples, peaches, and blueberries. Yum Yum. We also had great laughs and wonderful time catching up and visiting with everyone. We ate several meals at this wonderful place called Blueberry hill which is a bluberry ranch; We took the boat way down the lake to their favorite picnic spot where we all had to swim out (through the freezing water) to this big rock. It is tradition! It is just a really beautiful area. Cat, Barb & Mom @ Blueberry hill Rob & Cat at Blueberry Hills Rob & Cat on the dock at the house in Chelan
My second cousin Ty with his son Braden
Cat swimming to "the Rock"

Ron & my cousin Ken

My cousin Ken & Uncle Art playing poker..who's the card shark?!

charlie, Cat, Mom, Barb & Uncle Art

One especially crazy night was spent playing Pictionary with Mom, Rob, my cousin Ken and his wife Barb, her sister Gail and Gail's husband Ron. We play guys against gals. OMG we laughed so hard we were in tears and begging to stop for just a minute so we could breathe.
Ken and Barb's oldest son announced their engagement and plan to marry at Chelan next year so we will go again.
Unfortunately, vacation ended so we had to leave the lake. The first night we drove to Portland, OR and put Rob on a plane to go home. Mom and I continued the journey on our own.
We went to Grant's Pass, OR for a couple days to visit her cousins. They live in the woods in a beautiful area. They have a motor home and extra hookups for electrical and water. Only problem was I had to back the RV in down this very, very narrow dirt road and avoid all the overhanging trees. But, I masterfully succeeded! Charlie and I stayed in the rig and Mom slept in the house with them. We went out to dinner and had a fun day exploring Ashlan.. Fulton's home in the woods, Grants Pass, OR

Mom with her cousins; Jim and Marty Fulton
From there we drove to Sacramento and spent the night at Cal Expo's RV park, then to Fresno.
I stayed in Fresno for a couple days visiting my Dad & Barb and then continued on home.
I had a great time with my Mom and am so happy that I was able to spend the time with her. Originally she didn't want to go, thought it would be too much, but it all worked out really well. She did great in the RV and her little dog is a sweetie, and it was all good.
Rob, in the mean time had a trip to Hawaii and then stayed in the trailer at LAX so we could go together to see the work that had been completed on our lot.